Dnet

Had a couple of questions about my 2011 GT and tunes/tuners and cold air kits. I am amazed at the power being picked up on this 5.0 with just the tune and CAI kits and I think I am going to have to get one - all that extra power is just too tempting to pass up. But being from a heavy GM background, I am not sure which tuners are the best on the Ford side. I have seen a lot of posts about Bama, Lethal, Brenspeed, Steeda etc. but haven't a clue as to which one to go with. It appears all seem to be getting close to the same results and if that is the case, then I like the fact that you get 3 different tunes with the Bama setup so that may be my decision unless anyone changes my mind.

And as far as CAI kits, when I installed one on my previous car (2010 SS), it added a lot of noise and vibration so I was just curious how people are liking their CAI on the 2011 GT's and if there is much added noise or vibration? Also, from reading around, it appears Steeda makes the best looking/best quality CAI kit but why does no one make an enclosed kit for the GT or have I just not found it yet? I really like the stuff the Vararam and Injen put out but, for some reason, they don't make anything for the Mustang yet. An enclosed Vararam kit would look so sweet under the hood of my Mustang - we should petition them, lol. Anyway, any input is appreciated.

Nuke

Although I run Brenspeed tunes, I have to give the edge to Bama (AM), especially if you have an auto. Both will provide you 3 tunes with their packages last I recall but AM offers free tunes for life, Verify that, though. Also, both have EXCELLENT customer support.

The choice of CAI is a personal one but I'd discuss which ones AM or Bama have written tunes for already and what they've noticed. Although you'll see little variance in gains from one tune-required CAI to another, their input should help you decide.

Dnet

Thanks, Nuke, I guess my biggest concern, aside from performance, on the CAI is looks. Some of the kits just look so cheap and unfinished. The link below shows what I had on my Camaro - it is not really enclosed but I think the lid on top just makes it look "finished", if you know what I mean.

http://coldairinductions.com/cart/in...roducts_id=875

Derf00

The FRPP ones look the best IMO for 05-2009 but they don't provide the same level of gains as other aftermarket CAI's. The reason is they have a slightly smaller diameter and have a sharp bend right at the base of the filter.

Air Raid has probably the next closest best looking one. Again, you give up some performace for the looks.

So, when looking for a CAI you will give up looks typically for performance.

DarkCandy08GT

I have tried a few tunes now. The best i have found is the VMP tune hand down. Smooth as butter.

Dnet

I found out some info yesterday that might be of interest to some of you - it certainly was to me. Vararam, at least by email, verified to me that they are currently testing a kit for the 2011 Mustang with the 5.0. No dates were given, of course, but this is good news I think. They have made some really nice CAI kits that pick up substantial power on a lot of vehicles. Should be interesting.

SteedaGus

We just finished some updated tunes for both manual and automatic transmissions.

Here's a link to some posted results from a customer with an automatic.

http://forums.corral.net/forums/show...ghlight=steeda

Here's a manual transmission car with just our cold air and tune, stock everything else.



Here is another car we just finished today, brand new with only 40 miles on it, with our Cold Air, Kooks long tubes with high flow cats, and our tuning.

AMChrisRose

We did back-to-back testing on the same car, same day, same dyno, same temperatures with identical tuning other than the MAF calibration. We took the big brand name intakes from JLT, Airaid, Steeda and put them to the test. This test was done 11/9/2010. Bama tunes were being developed for the 2011 over 9 months ago, by the time this test occured, all of our values had been completely refined.

You can see the tests were done within about an hour of each other. Nothing was changed other than the MAF curve for the intake. The rest of the tune remained the same. We monitored Intake Air temps, Engine Coolant Temps, Air/Fuel Ratio, Variable Cam and Timing parameters via a Ford IDS unit and AFM1000 wideband, both OE quality tools.

Everything was identical during the runs, so while these were only preliminary tests done out of sheer curiosity, they are about as accurate as it gets for this test without spending too much time on it. Let's put it this way, it's way more accurate than the standard dyno tests provided with the products or their 3rd party results.

As you can see, the JLT outperforms all below 3500 RPM. The Airaid is by far the winner from just above 3500 RPM to just below 6000 RPM. They all make nearly identical horsepower/torque from 6000 RPM to redline.

Personally, the construction of the Airaid cold air intake, the quality of it and fitment characteristic and little design nuances are way better than the competition. That, mixed with the mid-range torque gains alone sold me.

In terms of raw performance, the JLT is hands-down the best for low end. While they didn't do too well in the mid-range, they finished out (just barely) on top in the upper RPMS (even though you wont feel a difference between ANY of these CAIs from 6000 and up). They (or Airaid) are the overall performance winners.


THE DYNO RESULTS WERE TOO BIG FOR THE SCREEN, CHECK THEM OUT BELOW!!

http://files.americanmuscle.com/forum/CAIshootout.jpg

*All tests done on an Automatic 2011 GT with 4.10 gears in 5th gear. Should be the closest 1:1 with 4.10's if you do the math. Done with 93 octane, stock exhaust manifolds, high flow catted x.

Dewyrussler

Chris - Thanks for posting that info...that is some really good info for those wanting a side-by-side comparison. I will be taking delivery of my 2011 5.0 (MT) in about two weeks and am considering a tuner / CAI as my first upgrade. I'm a total gearhead when it comes to older cars like my ‘83 GT...but this will be the first modern car that I tinker with so programmers, etc. are new to me. I've done a ton of reading on forums, so I'm familiar with them...but I have a few basic questions that you (or anyone else) and would really appreciate good reliable information.

1. From reading, the SCT Bama tune seems like the best fit for me although I haven’t decided for sure. Can I get a tune that works with everything else being stock on my car? Most of the info I’m finding combines a tune with a CAI kit...so I’m not sure if I can just do a tune without a CAI. If it is possible, what kind of numbers would you expect without a CAI? I understand that the best results will come from the combo...but my budget is small so my goal would be to get a tuner now, and then add a CAI in the future when funds become available. Also, are these out-of-the-box tunes that you’ve developed to fit certain configurations (for instance; I could request a tune for a stock MT 5.0 with a tune to work best with a JLT CAI), or would I need to bring my car there to actually create a custom tune?

2. Everywhere I read states that if I have used a programmer and have to take it to the dealer for work, that I need to return the tune to stock. I understand the reasoning behind this but can’t the techs at Ford tell that it has been reflashed? I’m just concerned about keeping my warranty intact. If they can tell I’ve modified it, do they annotate it in records somewhere leading to trouble down the road if I do have a warranty claim that they can say may have been caused by tunes?

3. Lastly, I’m also concerned about longevity as I normally keep my cars for many years. So, do you have any recommendations about safety with these tunes? If the ones that produce the most power are pushing the edge of what is safe for my motor (timing, air/fuel, etc.)...I would be happy with a more conservative tune that I was sure wouldn’t do any harm to my engine.

Thanks in advance for any info guidance Chris, or anyone else out there may provide. I’m very anxious to get my 5.0 and start modifying it...but just want to do it safely and with the best results.

-Dewy

SteedaGus

If you look at that graph closely, it looks inconclusive, or at least not completely consistent.

Performance is all about area under the curve. The JLT intake not only made less torque peak torque than STOCK, it made less torque from 4,000 to nearly 6,000rpm, it made less horsepower too. Only pulling out the peak win up top by a couple of horsepower for a total of maybe 700-800rpm. Thats a huge part of the band to be down even from stock. The little bit of power up top isnt going to make up for that.

It did measure more power down low, but I see that a suspect especially considering how far down it is in the middle below a complete stock intake. That is just not right.

The rest of the pulls look fairly clean, Although the Airaid pull looks like the car may have had more timing. I've datalogged enough of these cars to see when the knock sensor is allowing a little more timing down low. Things look like they stabilized towards the end of the run where its all about airflow and the lines pretty much mirror each other which is what I would expect.

Pretty good test overall but I think your JLT data deserved another pull. Surprised you didnt see that huge dip in the midrange.